Andy Garcia knows his “Father of the Bride,” Hollywood’s third take on the comedic classic, is unique — yet very connected to its predecessors.
In every version, “The idea is the same,” Garcia, 66, said in a Zoom interview about the 1950 original with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor and Steve Martin’s 1991 spin.
“It’s a father struggling in the midst of his daughter getting married. But this is a different spin. The other two movies don’t have the father and mother of the bride having their own arc in terms of where they’re in their marriage.
“Also, this is in a more modern time than the others. The women in our story, in terms of their involvement, are treated completely different than the women in the previous stories.
“We have cultural elements set in a Cuban family in Miami” — for the bride’s family — “and a Mexican family coming from Mexico City who are the groom’s family.”
Garcia’s Billy is an immigrant who fled Communist Cuba as a child and became a self-made successful architect. He’s married to Ingrid (Miami Sound Machine icon Gloria Estefan) and their eldest daughter’s announcement of an imminent marriage to a Mexican lawyer creates wild possibilities and disagreements.
“I was told this was developed for me,” Garcia revealed, adding the multi-culturalism and diversity was key.
“I had never seen this group but felt it was a privilege to be part of something like that. I felt a strong responsibility to get it right, to make sure things don’t go astray in terms of stereotypes and certain things that I’ve been used to seeing that sometimes can be very distasteful.”
Only Estefan, whom Garcia has known for decades, was considered for Ingrid.
“Gloria’s a wonderful actress and very selective in what she does. She has this completely other life which is performing, composing and recording but we didn’t hire Gloria because we wanted her to sing.
“We have her be Ingrid Herrera, the mother of the bride who has to be with me and hold hands for us in this journey.
“Our history infuses the relationship because we’ve known each other for so long — and we can jump in with each other.”
Their marriage is undergoing stress tests and the couple are frequently antagonistic.
“They’re not at each other’s throats,” Garcia noted.
“She’s just trying to wake this man up. It’s ‘You’ve worked hard all your life and enough already! Pay attention to me.’
“That’s very universal in marriages from time to time. Billy just can’t see the forest for the trees.”
“Father of the Bride” streams Thursday on HBO Max.